Without freedom for Lula you cannot say that Brazil is a democratic country

Mar 14, 2019 8:51 PM

Bulletin 388 – People's Committee in Defense of Lula and Democracy

Straight from Curitiba – 3/14/2019 – 342 days of resistance – 7:50 PM

1. Former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was visited on this Wednesday, March 14, by Federal Congressman José Guimarães (PT-Ceará), who made a point of highlighting the importance of the Vigil in Curitiba. After the visit, Guimarães said that the first question that Lula asks anyone who visits him is if they have been to the Vigil and if they have spoken with the comrades from the democratic resistance. “He has an extraordinary respect for the Vigil, the resistance and the activists,” he said. Read more here: https://pt.org.br/lula-exalta-resistencia-da-vigilia-em-visita-de-dulci-e-guimaraes/

2. Lula was also visited by former Minister of the General Secretariat of the Presidency and director of the Lula Institute, Luiz Dulci, who spoke of the circumstances of the ex-President: he is a political prisoner whose incarceration represents a real thread to democracy. “The struggle for freedom for Lula is not just for him, the person. As important as he is, it is a struggle to save democracy in the country. Without freedom for Lula you cannot say that Brazil is a democratic country,” he said. Watch here: https://bit.ly/2CnyIO0

3. The strength and symbolism of Lula is even greater for the thousands of autoworkers in the country, especially those from São Bernardo do Campo, who are now seeing their jobs threatened with the announcement that a company is shutting down its activities in São Paulo's industrial ABC region. Conscious of how this could affect the lives of at least “30,000 mothers and fathers,” the former President wrote a letter on this Thursday, March 14th, to all of the workers at the multinational corporation. Read the full letter here: https://pt.org.br/leia-a-carta-de-lula-para-os-trabalhadores-da-ford/

4. March 14th will always be remembered for the brutal assassination, which happened on this day last year, of Rio de Janeiro city councilwoman Marielle Franco and her driver Anderson Gomes. The date has led to a series of homages in Brazil and around the world, and prompted another direct and urgent message from President Lula. “Brazil needs Marielles, of peace, democracy and solidarity,” says a section of message. Read the whole statement here: https://bit.ly/2CizJHe

5. Former President Lula was awarded the George Meany-Lane Kirkland 2019 Human Rights Prize on this Thursday, March 14th. The award was giving by the American Federation of Labor & Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), the largest labor union confederation of the USA and Canada. The prize is named after the first two Presidents of the confederation, George Meany and Lane Kirkland, and was created after Kirkland died in 1999. Read the full story here: http://institutolula.org/en/afl-cio-honors-lula-with-its-george-meany-lane-kirkland-human-rights-award